It got me thinking about how where you live influences your health. Here’s a very personal example from the three houses I’ve lived in as an adult.

At my first house, all of my neighbors ran so I eventually started running with them leading up to me running three marathons.

At my second house, all of my neighbors played poker 1-2 times per month which was a great social activity (although not so great on the calorie count those nights).

At our new home in Charlotte, I haven’t found a running club or a poker group or even a golf group, but I’ve been invited to play tennis with a group of guys that play “recreational” tennis weekly.

Each of these are directly influencing several things – activity, diet, sleep, and social interactions.

I’ll have to hold off judgement on the tennis group since it hasn’t started yet. I had to ask my kids to start helping me since the last time I played an adult in tennis was in 9th grade with my dad. I’ve played with my kids for a few years, but they generally play with their opposite hand to prevent beating me too badly. (which either says something about me or them in terms of play)